Jubilee picnics, preparations and decorations

Hello, Samuel the spaniel here! It’s nearly the Diamond Jubilee and everyone is getting into the spirit at Petworth. The bunting fairies have come and adorned the receptions and corridors with union jacks, I’m sure the Queen herself would be delighted. Have any of you ever seen the Queen? I’d love to meet one of her corgis; I hear they’re very friendly.

The entrance to the Servants’ Quarters looking lovely

I sniffed out these flowers in our Church Lodge reception

Our ‘Summer of Celebration’ flags and very special souvenirs in the shop featuring my good friend Gromit.

The team here are busy preparing for Monday 4^th June and have asked me to invite you to our Diamond Jubilee picnic! Come dressed in your finest royal outfit (prize for the best) and relax in the Pleasure Grounds, from 12noon – 4pm children can make crowns and take part in our outdoor mural – we’ll even send a picture of the finished artwork to Buckingham Palace.

One of my friends came to visit this week, you might have seen him on the TV (and in the picture above) he’s called Gromit and he belongs to someone named Wallace. They’ve teamed up with the National Trust to offer you all a ‘Summer of Celebration’, Gromit was very impressed with our decorations and thought that some of you might like to have a go at making some bunting for yourself.

Simply print off this sheet and follow the instructions to make your very own Wallace & Gromit bunting. I’d love to see a picture of the finished result.

Images copyright of Petworth House and Aardman Animation Ltd 2012

Our new guest writer

I hope you like our new look! Our blog has been a bit quiet over the last few months, but we’re back with regular updates from the team here at Petworth. We’ve even got a new guest writer who will share his adventures with you – I’d like to introduce Samuel, he is very good with children so do invite them to have a read...

Hi, I’m Samuel the spaniel and I live at Petworth House (can you spot me in the picture above?). The people who work here have kindly let me start writing for this blog so I can share all my adventures with you!

Spaniels have lived here for many years, we were the favourite pet of the 3^rd Earl of Egremont and you can see my great great great great great grandfather sitting at his feet in some of the paintings in the house. You might also recognise me from the children’s multimedia tour you can hire, I show you round some of the rooms.

I’ve inspired a lot of new things this year, have you seen our newspaper The Petworth House Spaniel? It has all the latest news, views, events and even recipes in it. I’ve got my own page with special spaniel games in every issue so make sure you pick up a copy.

There is also a new game in the house, eight of my excitable friends have escaped and are hiding in some of the rooms. See if you can find them when you visit! I wonder who will be the first to spot them all?

Image taken by Graham Wilcock